A Study in Black
by Bluewater7
Summary: Shiro character study for Shiro Week 2017. Day 1 - Shiro's relationship with Space.
1. Day 1: Wonder of Space

**Day 1: Wonder of Space**

 _Age 5:_

"Momma! Hurry up!" A young boy called from his spot by the front door, where his dad was helping him put on his mittens.

"I'm coming, Takashi. I'm just grabbing the last few blankets for this." A woman called back. "Katsu, did you grab the thermos?"

"Yes, Aiko. And Takashi's all bundled up. Meet you in the car." Katsu responded, zipping up his own coat before picking up a cooler. "Come on, Takashi. Your mom will just be a minute."

Takashi raced out the door as soon as it opened. He smiled back at his dad, giggling. "Come on, daddy!"

"We've got several hours still, Takashi. There's no rush." Katsu reminded him as he unlocked the car and placed the cooler in the back. Before Takashi could notice, Katsu was behind him, scooping him into the air. "You're not gonna fall asleep, are you, son?"

Takashi frowned. "Maybe on the drive? That way I'll be wide awake when we're there!"

Katsu couldn't help but chuckle at Takashi's response. "That'll be fine."

"What'll be fine?" Aiko asked, exiting the house with her arms full.

"Sleeping in the car!" Takashi said, squirming to get down. Katsu released him and Takashi rushed to his mom. "Let me help!"

"Here, sweetie." Aiko handed him a blanket. "You can use that in the car. Let's get going."

"Okay!" Takashi let Katsu lift him into his booster seat and buckle him in. "I'm ready!"

It only took five minutes for Takashi to fall asleep. Aiko smiled warmly as she looked back at her son from the passenger seat. "We're lucky there's no snow or clouds this year."

"We are," Katsu agreed. "You know, one day, he's going to probably think that he's too old to do this during the years his birthday isn't on the calendar."

"Shh…that won't be for a while yet."

The rest of the car ride was silent besides the soft sounds of Takashi's breathing. Eventually, Katsu parked the car on a mountain, giving them a great view of the sky. The two adults left Takashi in the car as they pulled out the blankets and set up one on the ground. Katsu placed the cooler on the ground before looking at Aiko.

"Go ahead and get him up. He's not going to be happy that we didn't have him help us set this up." She smiled fondly.

"Keep smiling. You know we're gonna miss his eagerness to help one day." Katsu teased his wife as he opened the car door. "Takashi, wake up, son. We're here."

It took a few blurry blinks before Takashi rubbed his eyes, yawning. "We're here?"

"Yup. And your mom set the blanket up already."

"Momma! I wanted to help!" Takashi cried out as he scrambled out of the car. Aiko glared at her husband from her seat on the ground.

"Your father is teasing, Takashi. After all, he helped me."

Takashi pouted at his father as he sat next to his mother. "It's not nice to lie, daddy."

"You're right. I'm sorry." Katsu said as he settled on Takashi's other side. He opened the cooler to pull out the thermoses inside as Aiko settled the extra blankets around them. "Here's your hot chocolate, son."

Takashi smiled as he took the thermos that Katsu had unscrewed for him. Aiko ruffled his hair as she reached for her own thermos. "Now, Takashi, what do you think of the view of the sky tonight?"

Takashi looked up and grinned. "I can see lots of stars tonight! More than at home! Are we gonna play conste – consto – star shapes?"

Both of his parents smiled as he struggled to say the word he wanted. "Of course. This place is a lot better to play constellations, Takashi." Katsu said, checking his watch. They had about ten minutes before they surprised Takashi. "I spy a large bear."

Takashi and Aiko looked up, searching. "Oh! I think I see it! Right there!" Takashi pointed in the air with his mitten.

"That's it. Do you remember what it's called?" Aiko asked.

"Ursa…major! She's a big mama bear!" Takashi smiled before drinking some of his hot chocolate. "And Ursa Minor is the one right there!"

"Very good, Takashi." Aiko said. "I spy a dragon."

"There!" Takashi traced the constellation again. "Draco, right?"

"Right." Aiko smiled. Takashi's parents continued to describe various constellations for him to find in the sky as the clock slowly closer to midnight. At 11:58, Katsu pulled a cupcake out of the cooler and placed a candle in it.

"Takashi, look here." He said, as he lit the candle. Takashi pulled his eyes away from the night sky to look at his dad. His face lit up when he saw the cupcake and candle.

"Happy Birthday, Takashi." His parents said together, kissing the sides of his head. Takashi grinned at them before blowing out the candle.

"Thank you…can we do one more before we eat the cupcake and go home?"

"Of course." Aiko said as Katsu worked on pulling the candle out and got a plate and knife out of the cooler. "I spy a brave lion." Takashi didn't notice the smile on her face as she looked at her son instead of the sky, engrossed in searching the sky for Leo.

 _Age 10:_

Takashi sniffled as he held onto his grandmother's hand. It wasn't cold but it might as well have been as he watched his parents' caskets get covered. They had died after getting hit by a drunk driver on their way back from a night out. Takashi had been at his grandparents' house when the police had come with the news. Since then, Takashi kept getting moved between his two sets of grandparents as they handled everything to do with his parents' deaths. Takashi hated that he actually understood what was going on more than they thought he did.

" _Grandma…if I make a wish on a star like momma said, will it really come true?" He had asked as she tucked him in after the police left. She paused._

" _It depends on what you ask, Takashi. Some things are just too big for the stars to grant easily."_

" _Oh…I guess asking for momma and daddy to be brought back is too big." Takashi mumbled._

" _Oh, Takashi." His grandma's eyes began to tear up as she pulled him into a hug. "That's a really big wish that I don't think they can grant. But you know what? They're in the stars now watching you. And they will forever. They know that you love the stars and will be able to see them that way."_

 _Takashi hugged his grandma tight as he thought about her words. "Then one day I want to fly to the stars so maybe I can talk to them again that way."_

" _That's a big goal, Takashi. But I know you can do it."_

"Takashi, it's time to go home. Do you want to say anything before we leave?" Takashi's grandfather asked.

"I'll see you guys soon in the sky."

 _Age 16:_

Takashi sighed as he stood on the Garrison roof. He knew that he was going to have to go in soon for curfew, but he couldn't bring himself to do it quite yet. He looked down at the cookie he had saved from dinner with a small smile. This was the first year he was celebrating his birthday without something homemade as his grandma had passed away the year before, leaving him on his own.

"Well, happy birthday to me. I actually have the date on the calendar this year, so that's nice. Especially since I don't want to get in trouble for sneaking out of bed after curfew to come to the roof like I did last year." Takashi gave a small chuckle as he looked up. The sky was full of stars. "I'm glad there's no clouds this year so I can see you guys. I'm getting closer to flying up there with you. I know more than I used to, but I still want to fly."

Takashi ate his cookie slowly as his eyes jumped between constellations. Ursa Major and Minor for his mom and him and Draco for his father were where his eyes went first. "You know, I miss you guys a lot, not just because I don't have a family to go home to, but I finally got a nickname around here. Not that I mind it, but it's weird to hear 'Shiro' instead of 'Takashi' now. Even my teachers call me 'Shiro' in the halls. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Anyways, I've got to head back in, but I'll come out to talk again soon. Love you."

Before Shiro left the roof, his eyes sought out one last constellation. Leo the Lion was one of his favorites since his mother said he had the spirit of a lion. He only hoped he could hold onto it with everything that had been thrown at him.

 _Age 24:_

Shiro tried to catch a glimpse of the stars outside the ship as he was escorted to the arena again. The Galra didn't have a lot of windows allowing access, so he tried whenever he could to see them. The stars here were unfamiliar and cold. Who would have thought that flying to the stars would have turned out like this?

Shiro couldn't help but think about Matt and Keith. Both of them understood how much the stars meant to him and had even joined him on the Garrison roof for his last birthday before the Kerberos Mission launched. Someday, he hopes to get back to his stars and constellations. So he can't give up hope.


	2. Day 2: Reality Adventure

**Day 2: Reality Adventure**

Shiro awoke with a groan. He sat up, pulling off his helmet and regretting it almost immediately. It was a lot brighter out than he was expecting. Closing his eyes, he mentally checked himself over for any injuries. Finding nothing, he opened his eyes and looked around.

"What?" Shiro looked around confused again. He was sitting on dirt in what seemed to be a desert. "How did I get here?" Shiro shoved his helmet on and started to call for the others to no response. Sighing, he pulled the helmet off again. "Now what?"

"Psst. Over here!" A voice cut through the silence. Shiro started and looked around. "Over here! You in the white! You need to get out of sight!"

Spotting a small hand waving at him from a small cave entrance, Shiro picked up his helmet and jogged over. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what's going on," he explained as he entered the darkness.

"Obviously, you don't or you wouldn't be wearing that around here." A gruff voice cut through the darkness. "Follow us if you don't want to be captured. I'm sure we have a spare outfit we can give you."

A hand grabbed Shiro's and began to push him forward from behind. Shiro clutched his helmet to make sure it didn't get lost.

"Sir, are you sure we should take him all the way home? What if he's a spy?" Another voice asked. Shiro blinked. The voices were sounding familiar but he could almost swear that that one was Keith's.

"We'll pull into the alcove ahead and check him first." The gruff voice responded. "Just keep your eyes out."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but where am I? What planet?" Shiro quickly added.

"You must have hit your head out there. This is Earth." The gruff one answered. "No one has traveled to or from here in years except for those damn Galra. Or those taken by them for whatever reason."

Shiro stumbled in his shock. "Years? The Galra have been here for years? How many? I don't – "

"Shut up!" Almost Keith's voice growled. "How can you not know any of this? They've been here for almost 30 years."

Shiro was afraid he was going to fall when he heard that. There's no way they'd been gone that long, right? And if the Galra had gone after Earth, why hadn't they heard about it? Surely Allura and Coran wouldn't hide that from them? Not after losing Altea. They would understand better than anyone the fear of losing a home to the Galra.

"In here." The gruff voice pushed him a bit, making Shiro turn to the right. A small alcove lit up in front of him. "We're going to examine you and make sure you have nothing on you that they might be using to track you. Then we're going to be the ones asking questions to make sure you're not some kind of –"

The owner of the gruff voice stopped when he and Shiro locked eyes, mouth dropping open in shock. Shiro was just as surprised.

"Commander Iverson?"

"You know him, sir?" The voice that had gotten Shiro's attention to the cave asked. The owner of the voice stepped forward and Shiro's eyes got wider if possible.

"Pidge? But – how? What?"

"Pidge? My brother used to call me that. Do you know Matt somehow?"

"I – I don't think I know anymore." Shiro admitted. "I think there's something wrong."

The last member of this group stepped forward, glaring. "I'm going to guess you somehow know me too."

"Keith," Shiro said almost instantly, his heart breaking. The Keith in front of him was holding a knife aimed at him. He also had a scar on his cheek.

"This is impossible. You're Takashi Shirogane. The Galra's prized Champion." Iverson found his voice again. Keith's eyes narrowed and he almost lunged but Iverson caught his hand. "How is this possible? You haven't been seen in years outside of the streams of their arena fights."

"I'm going to freaking murder Slav." Shiro muttered to himself. "I don't know, sir. The last thing I remember, I was fighting Zarkon –"

"You were fighting the Emperor himself?" Keith interrupted him. "How? There have been no reports of any kind of rebellion."

"I – is that what this is? Some sort of rebel base? Is that why you didn't want to take me all the way without checking me over?" Shiro slowly started to put the pieces together. "Have you ever heard of a thing called Voltron?"

All three people in front of him sucked in their breaths. "That damn Blue Lion robot thing that brought these Galra down on us? That thing?" Iverson demanded.

"The Blue Lion is only a part of it." Shiro admitted. "Voltron is a robot made up of five Lions that combine. It's the only weapon capable of defeating Zarkon, so it was scattered across the universe to keep it away from him."

"How do you know about this?" Pidge asked.

"Because…I am the Paladin of the Black Lion. Or at least I was…something happened. The last thing I remember was being in Voltron fighting with Zarkon. Then I woke up out there, on the ground." Shiro explained. "But something isn't adding up. There's this one alien that's always a headache to talk to but he kept on going on and on about alternate universes. And what you guys have told me doesn't add up with my own memories."

"You called me 'Commander' but I've never met you. Even if you were sent as a spy, the Galra shouldn't know my rank within the rebellion." Iverson mused. "Holt, do you think his suggestion is plausible?"

"It could be. But it depends. What exactly is different besides you being able to form this Voltron thing?" Pidge asked, looking Shiro up and down. "Because you really do look like the Champion they show us during those fights. Like exactly."

"Not exactly." Keith spoke up again. "Not enough scars on his face."

Shiro shuddered at those words. "The last I knew, the Galra hadn't reached Earth. I was their 'Champion' for a bit but it was only after I was captured with Sam and Matt Holt on Kerberos. We were collecting ice samples when we were attacked. I spent a year as their captive before a Galra rebel helped me escape back to Earth to search for Voltron. I ended up in the Blue Lion with four others and we ended up in space. Two of the other paladins with me were Pidge and Keith. The rest is a long story."

"Those Lions that make up this Voltron thing, did they have any kind of additional powers?" Iverson asked.

Shiro's mouth dropped open in shock as he thought about it. "They did. But I didn't even think – the Black Lion. There was a time when I ended up on some kind of astral plane fighting with Zarkon over the Black Lion. Some kind of power that I don't know to control."

"That could be how you ended up here!" Pidge got excited. "Something during your fight with Zarkon must have activated them, throwing you here."

"Then I need to get back to my own universe. They need me."

"And we don't?" Keith asked suddenly. Everyone turned to him. "You have information about the Galra that could help us fight against them. You could help us get them off of Earth."

"No." Iverson spoke before Shiro could. "He can't. If he's truly from another universe where Earth was never invaded…then any information he has won't help us. He can't help us with strongholds they have here because they don't exist for him."

"But I might be able to help you with something else." Shiro offered. "The other two paladins. Their names were Lance and Hunk. I don't know their last names, which I realize isn't helpful but if they and these two are somehow able to get to the Blue Lion, it might still take them to the others."

"Lance and Hunk?" Pidge repeated. "Lance super flirty? And Hunk? Big guy with a heart of gold that can sense out traitors really easily?"

"Yeah. I'm guessing you know them." Shiro said.

Keith rolled their eyes. "I hate working with Lance."

"It doesn't matter. We can look into whatever information we have on the Blue Lion once we get back. Right now, let's get you back to base and see if we can figure out a way to get you home." Iverson ordered. "Keith, he's gonna bunk with you when we get there. You have room right now."

"Yes, sir." Keith nodded.

After being left alone with Keith in his room, Shiro refused to change out of his armor. "No offense, but it makes me feel a bit safer."

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with that Galra tech arm of yours being more obvious outside of the armor." Keith grumbled.

"And what about you? You know anything about your parents in this universe?"

Keith immediately tensed, shoulders tightening. He stood and poked his head out the door before rounding on Shiro. "You know, don't you?" He hissed.

"About you not being fully human? Yes." Shiro admitted. "But I won't rat you out to Iverson or anyone else. I'm guessing you didn't know the Shiro from here but in my universe, we were really close. I wouldn't do that to you."

Keith relaxed at that. "Thanks. Anyways, we missed dinner, but I have a few things stored here. Might as well eat some and then get some rest. Maybe tomorrow, Pidge and some of the other geniuses here can figure out how to get you home."

They never had a chance.

* * *

Shiro groaned as he regained consciousness. This time he was sore all over. It had been a few hours after he had fallen asleep when shaking and Keith yelling had woken him up. Shiro had slammed his helmet on his head for protection and raced after Keith. Fighting had broken out everywhere and he had seen some Galra drones in the base. The last thing he remembered was getting thrown into a wall, whacking his head.

"I still have my armor on." He muttered to himself in surprise as he sat up. "They wouldn't have left me in it if I was captured. What's going on?"

Shiro looked around himself and let out a small groan. "You have got to be kidding me!"

Instead of some kind of cell or even the underground base, Shiro was outside, seated by a lake. A crumbling castle was nearby. Shiro pulled off his helmet, tempted to throw it in anger but he didn't know if he might need it again soon.

"Don't move!" A voice came from behind him. Shiro froze. "Who are you? Your outfit looks similar to the ones we wear but I don't recognize you. And if you were Sven, you would have told us you were coming back."

"My name is Takashi Shirogane. I was a prisoner of Zarkon's." Shiro said.

"Really? I didn't realize that they sent anyone else from Earth out here." A new voice added. "Where's the rest of your crew?"

"I'm alone. I don't know what happened to them. I got separated from them." Shiro decided to give a half-truth until he could figure out what the situation in this universe was. He was just glad that Zarkon was still an enemy of whomever he was with.

"We'll take you to the castle. I'm sure Princess Allura and Commander Keith will want to meet you." The first voice said. Shiro's eyes widened when he heard the names. How many times was he going to have to see versions of his friends that weren't actually them?

He stood slowly, making sure he didn't make any sudden movements and turned to see who was behind him. His breath hitched when he recognized the headband on one of them. It was Hunk and Lance this time.

"Hey, are you okay?" Lance asked.

"Uh, yeah." Shiro snapped out of it. He followed Lance to the castle with Hunk behind him. It was weird to be escorted by these two.

"Who's that?" A voice asked from above, making Shiro look up. What looked like a kid was peering over the wall above down at them.

"Stranger who says he's from Earth." Hunk responded. "Tell Princess Allura and Commander Keith that we're bringing him in."

"Roger that!" The person disappeared, but Shiro was able to catch a glimpse of green first. Was that Pidge?

An older man with a mustache greeted them when they entered. "Pidge is getting the other two. He said that you are from Earth, stranger. Were you sent by the Galaxy Alliance?"

"Um…" Shiro wasn't sure how to answer that. If it weren't for the way this man spoke and his brown hair, he would wonder if this was supposed to be Coran. But so far everyone else looked very similar the versions from home.

"Coran, I hope you didn't start without us." A light voice came from the top of the staircase behind the now revealed Coran. Shiro looked up to see a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes staring at him. Her pink dress looked like it was from a Disney movie.

"Lance, Hunk, who is this guy?" A man in a full red outfit asked from besides the woman.

"He says that he's Takashi Shirogane from Earth, Commander." Lance said.

"Strange that he has an outfit similar to the ones we wear when piloting the lions, isn't it?" Pidge asked, appearing by Coran and startling Shiro.

"Um…I think I can explain? It's gonna sound weird but I'm sort of one of you?" Shiro couldn't keep his voice from sounding a bit doubtful. "Somehow I'm traveling through alternate realities. Or at least I think so. This is the second time I've woken up somewhere unfamiliar but with people that are somewhat familiar."

"Interesting." The woman said, walking closer. "Well, I am Princess Allura of Arus. I hope you don't mind if the others are cautious around you until we can figure this out a bit more."

"That's completely fine, Princess." Shiro said, his brain whirling. Arus was the planet where they had first met but here she seemed to actually be from here and not Altea. "I'm not going to lie, I was a bit surprised to hear about a 'Galaxy Alliance' since we don't have one back home. In fact, me and my crew getting captured by the Galra was our first encounter with alien life."

"The Galra? I thought you said you escaped from Zarkon?" Hunk's voice was suspicious.

"Yes. Emperor Zarkon of the Galra Empire." Shiro said, looking at Hunk. "He's been taking over the galaxy for the last 10,000 years."

"Interesting. Tell me, Takashi Shirogane, is your Princess Allura not from Arus?" Coran asked.

"No. We met on Arus, but the two of you were from Altea. In fact, you were the last Alteans." Shiro admitted.

"Fascinating." Pidge said. "These differences are large enough that you can tell that it's an alternate reality, but close enough that you figured you can trust us."

"Yes." Shiro admitted.

"Good. We might not know how you're traveling between realities but we might be able to help. Let's bring you to our command center and see if we can find anything. What do you remember both times you've travelled so far?" Coran asked, turning away.

"I was knocked out and woke up somewhere new." Shiro said. "And not like I fell asleep either. I was physically knocked out in some manner. I actually slept for a bit before I got up to fighting."

"Let's see if we can find a way to help you that doesn't involve that…otherwise the first time it happens here, we'll lose you. And it's not like it'd be an easy trip to get you back." Keith provided. "We wouldn't exactly be going to Planet Doom to get you out of the Castle of Dungeons."

"Um…is that where Zarkon is?" Shiro asked, trying to follow the conversation the others were having.

"Yes. I'm guessing it's different for you based on what you've already said." Keith looked at him.

"I don't actually know where Zarkon's from. He and his people don't seem to have a planet…" Shiro looked at Princess Allura and Coran. "There are things me and my team don't really know. We're sort of new to all of this interacting with alien life stuff."

"Right. You mentioned that. Well, let's get you over to Coran and Pidge and see if they can find anything to help you."

Shiro spent several days with them before a fight occurred on Arus that resulted in him getting blasted from behind and falling unconscious.

* * *

Shiro began to lose count of how many times he'd moved to different realities. Some where easier for him to handle, like the one he found where he and the Holts had successfully returned from the Kerberos mission without alien interference. Others were worse than the one he'd first discovered. All any of this really did was make him miss his team more and make him desire an end to all of this.

Shiro opened his eyes again and didn't even bother to moan this time. One thing that was nice was not constantly waking up to pain as he wasn't moving almost every day, but he still knew that he had been knocked out somehow again.

As he went to push himself off the surface he was laying on, Shiro was startled to find his hands bound in front of him. Taking a better look at his surroundings, he realized that he could easily be in some kind of cell. There were no bars and the room was a white instead of the purple he'd expect from the Galra or whatever they might be in this universe.

"Hello?" Shiro asked, wondering if there was some kind of surveillance that would alert his captors that he was awake. "I'm wondering if someone can tell me what's going on?"

Shiro wasn't really expecting an answer, so he was surprised when a small panel slid open opposite him.

"Silence. Once we get back to headquarters, you can answer our questions, Altean." A voice he didn't recognize spat before closing the panel quickly.

"Altean? Why would they think I'm an Altean?" Shiro wondered, leaning on the wall behind him now that he'd managed to sit up. Looking down at his bonds, he tried to activate his hand only to stop as he felt pain. "Bad idea."

Shiro fell into a light doze as he waited for someone to come and get him. Eventually he heard a sound that almost sounded like a door opening, so he opened his eyes to wait.

"Let's go, Altean. I'm sure the other members of the Guns of Gamara will want to interrogate you."

Shiro almost asked a question there but didn't. Not only did he not recognize the voice, but the person was wearing a helmet, giving Shiro no clues as to their identity. Shiro simply stood and followed this figure out. Their outfit was a dark gray with green highlights. Several more figures waited to help escort him.

It didn't take long for Shiro to be led to a room with a couple of long tables set up. He was led to one and forced to sit in the middle, facing the other table. The cuffs binding his hands connected with something on the table, forcing him to leave his hands on top of it where they could be seen. Two figures stood on each side of him.

Eventually more people entered the room, ignoring Shiro as they spoke in low voices and arranged themselves at the table before Shiro. He was a bit surprised to see that while these new people weren't wearing any helmets, he didn't recognize any of them. Until the last person entered and Shiro started.

"Kolivan…" Shiro didn't mean to say it very loud but immediately all other chatter ceased and everyone was focused on him.

"You shouldn't know my name, Altean." Kolivan spoke slowly, frowning. "And hardly anyone knows my face. Speak. Who are you?"

"My name is Takashi Shirogane and I think there's been some kind of mistake. I'm not an Altean." Shiro answered automatically.

"So you say, but you wear their uniform. And you can't be a non-cog. Our scanners didn't pick up their technology. Although your arm does contain some of their work, it seems." Kolivan said, looking at one of the papers in front of him.

"My arm? But I don't know how that's possible. It's Galra tech." Shiro tried to explain.

"Not very likely as all of us Galra are on this base and none of us have met you before." Kolivan looked at Shiro calmly. "You should know that there aren't many of us left."

"I'm telling you there's been some kind of mistake." Shiro said before realizing something. His helmet was still on. "My helmet. If you remove it, you'll see for yourselves. I know that Alteans can shapeshift, but they can't hide the markings on their cheeks by shifting."

"Hmm." Kolivan looked around the room. "Does anyone object to his reasoning?" No one spoke. "Fine. Remove his helmet."

The silent figure to Shiro's right handed his weapon to the person next to him and reached out to pull Shiro's helmet off. Several gasps were heard as his face was revealed. Kolivan stood quickly. "I need Slav in here now!"

"Slav?" Shiro's eyes widened. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to see Slav – any version of Slav – but this might be the best chance to get home.

"You know I don't like when you have these meetings without me and then ask for my help." Came a voice from the hallway. "Especially since almost every time you end up calling me in for help. You're just lucky that this time I was nearby. I was heading to check on Sven. That idiot got hurt again on our latest mission."

Shiro sighed. That was definitely Slav's voice. Then the rest of what Slav said reached Shiro. _Sven? I think I've heard that name before…_

"What is this?" Slav's voice broke through Shiro's thoughts and he looked up to find Slav staring at him. "Did you find some kind of Altean clone?"

"Clone? I don't think that's possible." Shiro said without thinking.

"Slav," Kolivan got Slav's attention. "Sven is still in medical, as you guessed. And given what we've already seen with this one here, I think something else is going on."

"Hmm…" Slav looked Shiro up and down. "Stand up. I want to get a full look at you."

Shiro raised an eyebrow but did as asked. Slav barely glanced at him before looking at the one still holding Shiro's helmet. He glanced between that and Shiro several times before turning to Kolivan.

"You thought he was Altean until the helmet came off, didn't you? Why didn't you get the helmet off after you found him?" Kolivan didn't even bother to try and answer as Slav continued to talk. "However, his outfit is Altean. But it's not completely like theirs. In fact, I have seen this outfit before, but in different colors. It was that group that Sven and I encountered when we ran into Commander Hira. The ones that were from an alternate reality."

"What?" Shiro couldn't stop himself from talking. "You meant others in my outfit in different colors from another reality? Blue, red, yellow, and green?"

"And pink." Slav said. "They said they knew me too."

"Yes. You're a bit different but maybe you can still help me get home. I've been hopping through alternate realities for a while. Every time I get knocked out, I wake up in another one."

"Interesting." Slav looked Shiro over again. "Unfortunately, I don't know if we can get you home. The way they arrived was closed after they left."

"Dammit." Shiro muttered. "This is the closest I've been to them in ages and I still don't know when or how I'll get home."

"I might be able to work something out." Slav continued speaking as if he hadn't heard Shiro. "I think we still have our readings from that ship and day. If you manage not to get knocked out, I might be able to send you back. Of course, if you've been traveling through multiple realities and this is the first time you've gotten close to your original one, then it's possible that the next time you get knocked out, you'll return home. But if you do get knocked out, we won't be able to help you."

"Well, I'll just do my best not to let that happen again." Shiro replied sarcastically before he could stop himself. "I'm sorry…I don't exactly get along with the you from my universe."

"Don't worry about it. I sort of got that impression from the others of your reality. If you need me, I'll be in my lab."

* * *

"Shiro? Shiro?" A voice cut through the darkness. Shiro almost swore as he started to wake up. Slav had been certain he'd figured out how to get Shiro home but Shiro didn't remember anything about it working. He must have gone unconscious again. Slav was probably pissed that he lost his test subject. The last few months that he had spent without traveling had been nice, but every day that had passed had made Shiro more and more anxious to get home. And also because constantly interacting with Sven had been really bizarre.

"Are you sure it's actually him this time?" Another voice cut through to him. "We've seen several of those fakes after all and I just want us to be sure."

"I scanned him using the thing you created, Hunk." A third voice spoke.

"Well, yeah, but there's issues with it. If these really were all genetic clones, then all of them would register as the real Shiro."

"Relax, big guy. I'm sure Allura can do something to verify it too." Four voices now. All voices that Shiro recognized but didn't dare hope to believe were the ones he wanted.

"I might be able to, but since I didn't exactly know how to do it before he left, it's not like I can really compare it to anything." That was definitely Allura's voice. A soft warmth spread across Shiro's body before disappearing quickly. "This is him. It has to be. None of the others felt like this…like they were really alive."

With that, Shiro finally opened his eyes. Keith and Allura were kneeling by his head, with Pidge and Lance next to them. Hunk was standing at his feet. There were tears visible in almost all of their eyes.

"When was the last time you all saw me?" He couldn't help but ask, hoping that he was home but not sure if he could believe it.

"You disappeared from Black months ago when we were fighting Zarkon." Lance answered after a moment of everyone staring at him.

Shiro smiled. "I'm finally home. I've missed all of you. I can't wait to catch up on everything."


End file.
